


I'm still comparing your past to my future

by cutebutpsyco



Series: Endgame Countdown [21]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: (not actually first but still), Alternate Timelines, Angst with a Happy Ending, Confused Tony Stark, First Kiss, Just few people remember, M/M, Not Beta Read, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie) - Freeform, Tumblr Ask Box Fic, different timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-23
Updated: 2019-04-23
Packaged: 2020-01-24 14:54:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18573772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cutebutpsyco/pseuds/cutebutpsyco
Summary: “He made a choice, he’s twenty, Stark!” And, at that, Stephen knew he got it wrong. Because in that timeline, Peter wasn’t twenty, in that timeline, Peter was still sixteen and trying to do always the right thing, despite everything, despite what adults told him to do.





	I'm still comparing your past to my future

**Author's Note:**

> A long time ago, Tumblr user cl1634 asked me: _They get into a heated Argument, Stephen pushes Tony against a Wall, Tony angrily says: "What you gonna do, kiss me?" and thats how they shared their first kiss_  
>  And then this somehow went wild and I messed up with the prompt like I always love to do. In the end, this is what happens in this fic, but there's a little bit more of angst just because why not? 
> 
> I'm a slut for Stephen and Loki's friendship so there's a little little mention to it as well, just like the super brief mention to Carol x Rhodey and Carol in general. That's my hope of her going along with Stephen. 
> 
> That said, probably another fic will come later today and if I manage even one tonight so that tomorrow I'll drop the last one (which isn't the one I wanted to, but I got caught up with other stuff and that one is massive and I hope I'll find the motivation to finish it after having seen Endgame) and then I'll die, once for all, cause I'll be watching Endgame tomorrow at 4:30 PM CET. Yay for me!
> 
> Finally, as always, nothing belongs to me. Title from Immortals by Fall Out Boy.

Tony was panicking, Stephen could say it from the way he was moving back and forward into the conference room. He couldn’t just stay still, despite Steve glaring daggers at him. All of them just wanted to finish that and go back to check on their injured friends. And Stephen knew that Tony was the first one who wanted to run down the aisle that led to the med bay and be sure that Peter was fine and breathing. 

Strange couldn’t blame him, he wanted to do the same both for the kid and for Wong who got hit in the attempt to push the teen away from one of Mordo’s allies. And that was the problem: Stephen was feeling responsible for his best friend and Peter being in a hospital bed because it was on him. He was the one who should have dealt with Mordo in the first place. But he didn’t, and couldn’t defeat him alone, and so he asked for the Avengers to help him. 

“I feel like we won’t get anything done tonight,” Rogers said, to Stephen, Tony, Thor and Bruce, the only still standing Avengers, but for Bucky who was getting through some magic resistant weapons with Coulson to the SHIELD headquarters. He was the one who had known the weaponry of the Howling Commandos better, and Dr Fitz suggested that they could use them when in short of options. Apparently, one of Coulson’s man’s grandfather had been part of the team, but the man died in some weird ass mission so they couldn’t ask him directly. “Go to the others, sleep it off, and we will try to plan something first thing in the morning.” 

Steve exited the room, followed quickly by Thor and, after a moment, by Bruce too, leaving Stephen and Tony alone in the room. Stephen didn’t even know if it was better to walk away or trying to speak with the man, but he knew it was his fault. Because he wasn’t ready to fight against Mordo and he would probably never been. Because he asked for the Avengers help without taking into consideration that they could get hurt. And because out of everyone, Peter got hurt. And he couldn’t let know that he cared about the kid as much as Tony did. 

It was for the best, Wong told him, once Thanos had been defeated and everyone was back from the Soul Dimension. They couldn’t remember or the world would never go back to his normality. Only the people who possessed powers that came from the Mystical Arts would have kept their memories and Stephen had seen in Carol’s eyes that she would have preferred to be 100% human so that she didn’t have to see Rhodey’s lifeless body every time she looked at her boyfriend. But they couldn’t decide. And, overall, it was for the best. Someone had to keep their memories so that they could be ready in case another threat was coming, but the others had no reason to. 

Though it hurt, especially when Stephen was with Peter or Tony. The kid seemed to be enthusiastic with the Sorcerer Supreme, and while Stephen was sure it was just his usual behaviour, Wong suspected that his Spidey-Sense was giving him some random vibes that reminded him of the time spent together after the Snap; Tony, on the other side, was a completely different matter. The genius couldn’t remember the relationship they tried to figure out after the Avengers freed them from the Soul Dimension. He couldn’t remember the nights spent up trying to find a way to kill Thanos without letting him know that his leverage on them disappeared thanks to a couple of very powerful Sorcerers (Stephen had to admit that, as annoying as Loki was, he had been of a great help), he couldn’t remember the tense smiles Peter managed to draw out from him and he couldn’t remember the first kiss him and Stephen shared, when he was asking for every kind of distraction. 

And, most certainly, he couldn’t remember of never losing sight of both Stephen and Peter during the final battle against the Mad Titan. And that was fair. That was good. If not that they went back to their first-meeting-banter on a daily basis. When he said that to Carol, the woman told him that if she and Rhodey got together even in that different timeline he and Tony would figure out their relationship again. Stephen wasn’t so positive. People like them could only love or hate each other, and in that present, it seemed to be the latter. 

“You really kept the kid away from the danger,” Tony let out, and while Stephen knew he said that because he was worried he couldn’t let that go.

“I’ don’t follow your order, Stark. I told you all I had to be the one to stop Mordo,” He said, trying not to look at the man in front of him. 

Tony moved on the side, finding himself face to face with the Sorcerer, and Stephen could point the moment his tony started to be even more bitter: “And what a wonderful job you have done!” 

He moved another step closer and, at the other’s motion, the Cloak bolted out from Stephen’s shoulders, pushing the billionaire away from him and pinning him against the wall at the other side of the room. Stephen looked at it for an instant, not sure if call back his relic or letting it keep Tony at distance. In the end, though, he decided to step closer, his eyes never leaving Tony’s face. 

“I did what I have to,” He answered, and while he wasn’t openly screaming, it was clear that he was angry, his voice low and determined. “And we both know Parker is not the kind of person who stays away from dangers because you told him to do so.”

He tried to ignore the trembling in his hands, the memories that were surfacing in his eyes, the past they all forgot about. Because the last thing Stephen needed to think at that moment was how much he used to know the kid and Tony, how well they worked together. At the mention of that, Tony’s eyes widened as if that simple sentence made something snap in his mind. 

And, honestly, Stephen’s wasn’t ready for that. And most than everything he wasn’t ready for Tony to look at him and shook his head. “Still, you should have tried!”

“My best friend got caught in the fire because he was protecting him!” Stephen was having a hard time not to scream. He was frustrated and memories of this and the timeline he erased from everyone’s mind were starting to mix. He was now standing in front of Tony, one hand on the side of the other man’s head, still pushed between the wall and the weight of the Cloak that didn’t move even in the slightest. He could feel flames of anger creeping through his eyes, and even if he was trying to keep himself collected he knew he simply couldn’t. 

“His life is on me,” Tony said, and Stephen couldn’t understand if he was speaking with himself or with the Sorcerer. It was barely audible, but then Stark raised his eyes on Stephen’s face and they were ablaze with anger. “If he’d die out there, it would have been my fault, can you understand that, Doctor?!”

“He made a choice, he’s twenty, Stark!” And, at that, Stephen knew he got it wrong. Because in that timeline, Peter wasn’t twenty, in that timeline, Peter was still sixteen and trying to do always the right thing, despite everything, despite what adults told him to do. But he didn’t have time for that. They had a similar conversation in the previous timeline, though. It was about Tony trying to forbid Peter to take part in the fight against Thanos. And Stephen knew that he froze, looking at Tony as if his eyes held all the secrets in the universe, but they did, they always had. 

And then Stark’s infuriated voice brought him back, teasing: “What are you gonna do, now? Kiss me?”

And Stephen knew that he asked just because he was staring at his lips, but he couldn’t help himself. He bowed slowly his head, giving Tony all the time to push him back, and peaked his lips against the other man’s. What he didn’t expect for, though, was Tony’s tongue finding its way through Stephen’s lips, pushing them open. Stephen’s hand went on his cheek, brushing slowly over Tony’s skin while his mouth got used to the blissful sensation of Tony’s lips against his own. 

And, surprisingly, there was no anger in that kiss even when Stephen pushed back to look Stark in the eyes. “I didn’t expect for you to actually do it,” The genius said, but there was something similar to a smile that was painting his lips. “Just, let’s go to check on the kid and then we can speak, ok?”

Stephen nodded, they had to, he knew that, but he was happy that Tony was the one who suggested that. It meant he didn’t want to run as far away as possible from him.

**Author's Note:**

> I love kudos and I love comments even more!
> 
>  **do you want to prompt me or say hello?** check out my [tumblr](http://ironstrange-is-the-endgame.tumblr.%20com) 💖


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